AVOCADO PEAR, the fruit of the tree Persea gratissima, which grows in the West Indies and elsewhere; the flesh is of a soft and buttery consistency and highly esteemed. The name avocado, the Spanish for “advocate,” is a sound-substitute for the Aztec ahuacatl; it is also corrupted into “alligator-pear.” Avocato, avigato, abbogada are variants.